OVERVIEW
In the Emerald Isle, you can find more than 40 shades of green civil unrest and crushing poverty, the Irish have retained their wit and community spirit. This is a nation of storytellers and legends of Celtic heroes are as ready on the tongue as the Irish are ready to burst into song. Whether you are in a pub stomping your feet to a jig, taking in the breathtaking view atop a limestone cliff, or paying your respects at an ancient burial chamber, look up at the sky and you are likely to spot a rainbow. Follow it and you may just get your hands on a pot of gold. To get under the Irish skin read ‘McCarthy’s Bar’, listen to U2 or Sinead O’ Connor and watch ‘The Quiet Man’.
BEST TIME TO VISIT
- A visit to Ireland in the summer is very different from a trip in the winter. Apart from climatic considerations, there are the issues of cost, closures and crowds. Generally speaking, in summer, airfares, car-rental rates and hotel prices are highest and crowds at their most intense. But the days are long (6 AM sunrises and 10 PM sunsets), the weather is warm, and every sightseeing attraction and B&B is open. In winter, you can get rock-bottom prices on airfare and hotels. But it will rain and the wind will blow, and many rural sights and a fair proportion of the rural B&Bs and restaurants will be closed.
- All things considered, we think the best time to visit is in spring and fall, when weather falls in between bad and good, but you get lower-than-high-season prices and the crowds have yet to descend.
Holiday Highlights
- Visit Dublin
- Visit Belfast
- Visit Cork
- Visit Galeway
- Visit Kilkenny
- Visit Killarney
- Visit Waterford
Recommended Hotels
- The Shelbourne Hotel – Dublin *****
- The Clarence - Dublin *****
- Intercontinental Hotel – Dublin *****
- The Morrison – Dublin ****
- Radisson Blu Hotel - Belfast ****
- Radisson Blu Hotel and Spa – Cork ****
- The g Hotel – Galway *****
- Cashel House Hotel – Galway *****
